Cinderella
by Shreiking Beauty
Summary: If Hermione Granger was Cinderella and Draco Malfoy was Prince Charming. But Hermoine is smarter than Cinderella and Draco Malfoy is not as shallow as Prince Charming.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Author note: My first FanFic, please review, if no one likes it I won't continue. Just an idea I had while I was cleaning my room.**

I woke up in the morning to the sound of birds singing. The high-pitched sound hurt my head, sore from staying up so late cleaning. I had no idea how it came to be that I spent all of my time cleaning and yet there was always more to clean.

But I kept my chin up and got ready for the day. In other words, I pulled my hair into a sloppy bun and pulled on the only dress I owned. I used to have a blue one, but my step mother gave me this brown one when I stained the other one beyond repair. I hurried to the kitchen and started making breakfast: porridge for me and poached eggs on toast for my step-mother and two ugly step-sisters; Pansy and Daphne. I also made a pot of tea and put a teacup on each tray. After finishing my porridge, I carried their trays to their rooms, woke them up, and left them with their breakfast, ignoring the insults that followed me out the door.

The last room in the hall was Stepmother's. I sighed and rolled my eyes quickly before putting on the mask of shame and fear that I had become accustomed to using in front of her. Her face was thin and pointed, and she had ugly pale green eyes, which made me wonder how her two daughters acquired such bulbous features and muddy brown eyes. I had beautiful chocolate brown eyes and dark hair. Daphne had black hair and Pansy had red hair. I couldn't imagine Stepmother with red hair, but I couldn't imagine her marrying a ginger either.

"Stepmother," I called quietly into the curtains around her bed.

"You're late," came her cold, aged voice.

"I . . . had a sleepy start," I explained.

"I didn't ask for excuses!" I scowled while she still couldn't see me, then pulled back the curtains and set her tray up for her. I hurried out of there before she could say anything else, and began my chores.

Somewhere between sweeping the kitchen and brushing the carpet, someone came to the door.

"Hermione, get the door!" Daphne yelled.

"You get it! It might be a man looking for an ugly little pig to be his wife!" I yelled back.

"I'm telling mother!" But I got up and answered the door, muttering to myself that at 16, she seemed a little old to be tattling.

A well-dressed man was standing there, a fancy carriage parked behind him. He said something along the lines of "by royal decree every eligible young lady must go to the ball," but I wasn't really listening. He handed me a letter in a fancy envelope and told me to give it to the lady of the house. Smiled a little and shut the door.

"EVERY eligible young lady?" I muttered to myself. "Why, that's ME!" I opened the envelope and sure enough, there was an invite for Daphne, Pansy, and Hermione. Now, I could show this to Stepmother and announce that I get to go, too, OR I could be smart and hide it. It was a masquerade, anyway, so I could sneak in and my stupid stepsisters would never recognize me. I just need a dress.

I walked up stairs and handed the envelope to Stepmother, lost in my silent plans. I had a sewing machine, some patterns, and a stash of money I had been saving up by stealing just a little bit from Stepmother every time I was sent shopping. Did I really want to spend all my money on this? . . . Yes!

That evening I snuck out with some excuse like needing bread or something, and made my purchases at the fabric store. I had tons of black thread, black and red fabric, and black lace to sneak back into the house, not to mention the simple black mask they had sold as a base and some embellishments to decorate it with.

"Awfully short notice," I whispered to myself as I frantically put the finishing touches on the dress I'd been working on every night for the past week and a half. Stepmother called down from the base of the stairs to the attic; my room.

I opened the door and she told me they were leaving. I smiled a little and said "Have a good time." She scowled at me.

"Don't be upset that you weren't invited," she said, her voice sickeningly sweet. Then it turned cold. "The prince is looking for a _wife, _but I'll let you know if he's ever in need of a scullery maid." I looked hurt and shut the door before rolling my eyes. Like she could still scare me.

I smiled at the finished dress in front of me, remembering Daphne's ugly green one and Pansy's identical magenta one. I put the dress on, grabbed my 4-inch black heels (which I had stolen from Pansy's room) and walked to town. Carriages started approaching and I put my mask on. As I had planned, one of the carriages stopped by me. A masked gentleman poked his head out of the window.

"Planning on walking to the castle?" he said.

"Actually, I was hoping some nice gentleman would give me a ride," I said sweetly. He smirked and opened the carriage door, offering a hand. I smiled and took it. The carriage was small and dark, and another man was waiting inside.

"Trying to pick up the 'eligible young ladies' the price doesn't want?" I asked, keeping my tone light. The men laughed.

"That's the plan. So far we don't seem to be doing too bad, eh?" said the other man.

"You seem to be doing quite well to me." I chuckled with them. The man who had helped me in had striking red hair and freckles. The other had black hair and impressive green eyes. "My name is Hermione," I told them.

"Harry," said the black-haired one.

"I'm Ron," said the other.

"Well, Harry and Ron, I don't believe I've seen you around town," I said.

"We don't live around here . . ." Harry said vaguely. Ron rolled his eyes.

"So, what, you're _nobles_?" I teased. "Don't worry, you can't scare me off that easily." They smiled.

Through the window, we could see the castle approaching. It was beautifully decorated with lights and flowers. I took time to admire the garden as we made our way to the door. Ron and Harry both jumped out of the carriage and offered me their hands as I climbed out, so I took hold of both.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping. Stuffing my face under my pillow, I cursed whoever opened my window. Somebody jumped plopped on the bed next to me.

"Draco, wake up!" Blaise pulled the pillow off of me. "Your mother wants to talk to you!"

"Since when has that ever made me want to get up faster?" I pulled a different pillow over my head, but he took that one, too.

"Come on, she's really excited! She told me not to tell you, but it has something to do with you getting married!" I sighed.

"That's nothing new. What's the rush anyway? My parents are, like, 45! They're not gonna die anytime soon."

"Like anyone can even know that, Draco! Come on!" I sighed again and got dressed. My parents were in the throne room.

"Draco, dear, we have wonderful news!" my mother said. Father seemed bored, as usual, but I was pretty sure he rolled his eyes when she said that. "We've found you a wife!"

I opened my mouth to protest, but a servant shoved a picture into my hands. There was a nice looking blonde girl smiling up at me.

"She's the Parkinson's girl, you remember the Parkinsons, don't you? The widow with her two daughters, Daphne and Pansy. Little Pansy took quite a liking to you at the dinner party last year!"

"Mother, I _hate _her! I don't want to marry her!" Father chuckled, and Mother looked irritated.

"I had a feeling you would say that. What are _your _plans, hmm, Draco? What do _you_ plan to do about your matrimony?"

"I don't know Mother, but I'll marry _anyone _you don't choose. I can choose myself! Even if there was any chance of me liking someone you picked, I wouldn't marry her because _you _picked her!" Mother pretended to be hurt by that.

"Oh, my little Draco, don't you understand, I just want what's best for you?"

"I know what's best for me, I'll find someone myself!" My mother sat back in her throne and put her hand to her forehead. Father nudged her.

"Tell him what we talked about," he said quietly. Mother looked reluctant.

"Fine. We're willing to make a deal with you, Draco. We will have a ball, and invite every eligible bachelorette in the kingdom, and you may choose one. But, if you don't find someone at the ball, you will marry Miss Parkinson! Deal?"

"What? Mother!" I tried to protest.

"_Deal_?"

I sighed. This was the best I was going to get. At least I had this much choice. ". . . deal."

Sitting at in a corner at the ball, Blaise tried to pick out a few girls for me.

"See her? She has a diamond necklace! That means she was born in April, I bet, and if she was born in April, that makes her a spring baby, and spring babies are very nice. That other girl has brown hair! Isn't that a nice shade of brown? And that girls dress is green! You love green!"

"Blaise, shut up!" I said, fiddling with my mask.

"Don't worry, it's still early, there'll be plenty more to choose from."

"I'm _tired,_ I don't want to _be _here," I whined. Blaise handed me a drink and I gulped it down. After my second drink, the colored lights started making me dizzy.

"Just dance with a couple girls, you'll never meet anyone just sitting here." The room was starting to fill up fast, and some of the girls around us were whispering, obviously figuring out that it wasn't a coincidence that my hair was the same platinum blonde as the King and Queen.

For a moment, the room sort of went quiet, and the crowd turned their attention to the entrance, where a brunette beauty had entered, escorted by a black-haired man and a red-haired man I assumed were Potter and Weasly, too nobles that were constantly together cooking up trouble.

More whispers started and Blaise shoved me, causing me to spill my third drink.

"Look! It's destiny! She's _perfect_!"

"How do you know? She could be a total loon. Besides, she's _here_, you know what that means? She wants to marry the rich powerful _prince _just like everyone else here."

"Ok, first of all, what's wrong with that? And secondly, you can't know that, either. Maybe she just wanted to have some fun! Now go talk to her before she's stolen away by all the guys that are here to pick up the desperate girls you don't choose!"

She was laughing and dancing with her suitors, oblivious to the men around her, trying discreetly to catch her attention. Another redhead girl joined them and hugged the boys before being introduced to the mysterious girl. After a few threats from Blaise and a stern look from my mother, I got up and walked to an empty seat next to her as she sat to rest.

As I approached, several others made for the seat, but most of them recognized me and I threw evil glares at the others, leaving the seat free.

"This seat taken?" I asked nonchalantly. She gestured for me to sit as she took a drink.

"So, why this grand ball all of a sudden? I mean, there must be some occasion, right?" she asked, not looking at me.

"What, you don't know?" I asked, trying to hide my incredulity.

"I'm sure someone mentioned it, but I probably wasn't paying attention," she said, smiling at me with mock guilt.

"The prince is supposed to choose a wife tonight." Blaise was actually right . . . not that that meant anything; I wasn't going to marry her just because everyone in the room was captivated by her looks.

"That's nice, I hope the best for him. That's probably why my sisters were so eager." She laughed a little.

"Who are your sisters?" I asked. Was it just me, or was she actually interested in keeping the conversation going?

"Those two over there," she pointed to a couple of girls talking animatedly to Blaise. I recognized one of them as the girl from the photograph.

"The Parkinsons? I didn't know they had another sister," I said.

"Yeah, well, they're my stepsisters. Their mom married my dad and when he died, they sort of made me their slave, so . . ."

I remembered hearing something about that, when I was young, the death of Sir Granger leaving his daughter with his new wife and two stepdaughters, the Parkinsons. I had forgotten about that.

"Some people . . ." I said, shaking my head. She laughed.

"Is that the prince they're talking to?" she asked, craning her neck to see over the crowd.

"Yes," I said without thinking.

"Ooh, he's handsome." My heart sank a little. I tried to convince myself that it wasn't from getting my hopes up. I didn't get my hopes up, I knew she was here for the prince from the beginning! "So, you know who I am, who are you?"

I let my hopes get just a little bit up that she was so interested in talking to me. Except that there was the problem of having already told her that someone else was me. Only one way to fix this.

"Blaise Zabini."

"Oh, aren't you, like, the princes right-hand-man, so to speak?"

"Um, yeah, that's me."

"Cool."

"Hey, Harry, look who's talking to Hermione," Ron said, turning Harry around to see.

"The prince. Nice. He doesn't waste any time, does he?" Harry and Ginny giggled. Ron didn't.

"Oh, Ron, you're not jealous, are you?" said Ginny, always the annoying little sister.

"No, of course not!" Ron defended. "I was just . . . worried about Harry! He seemed to be pretty into her . . ." It was Ginny's turn to feel jealous.

"Don't worry about me, Ron, I don't like her like that." He tried to subtly hint to Ginny that he liked her.

"Whatever. I never trusted that prince anyway."


	3. Chapter 3

_Three hot guys in one night, _Hermione thought. _I should get out more often!_ For a moment, I let my imagination get carried away as I wondered what it would be like if the prince chose _me_.

I would be out of that hell hole some people call a house in a week. For heaven's sake, I'd be out of there _tonight_! If I married the prince, I could send someone to get the very few personal items I owned, and I'd never have to go back there again! I sighed happily. Maybe one of the hot guys here would take me away, even if it's not the prince.

Meanwhile, a certain platinum blonde was clearly getting anxious from the silence between us. "So, if a girl was to marry you, would she live in the castle? Would she get to hang out with the prince? Are you even aloud to get married?" I felt a little silly, deciding against another drink.

"Um, I don't know," he said, smiling a little.

"Well, everyone needs a little romance in their lives," I said. "You know, the last person I went on a date with was a sheep herder."

"The last person I went on a date with was your stepsister." I laughed loudly, drawing the attention of some people around us.

"Oh, I feel bad for you!" I said, he laughed too. "What was it like? Was it awful?"

"Yeah, she's very . . . clingy." We both laughed. I'd seen her around guys; she literally threw herself at them. "It wasn't, like, just the two of us, though, it was at one of the banquets."

"I bet the King and Queen liked her," I laughed again.

"Actually, they did."

"Really? Why? If she married the prince, our kingdom wouldn't last a week. Plus you can really get sick of her."

"Tell me about it," he laughed again.

Just then, the large clock above the castle chimed: midnight.

"Oh, no!" I said.

"What?"

"Oh, never mind, it was just this dream I had last night."

"Tell me about it." I laughed a little, embarrassed.

"I was going to the ball, but I didn't have a dress or a way to get there, so this lady comes and tells me she's my Fairy Godmother." He laughed into his hand. "Yeah, well, she magicked me a carriage and a dress and everything, but she said the spell would be broken on the last stroke of midnight."

We both laughed at my crazy imagination. I looked up and saw the King and Queen talking to my stepmother. Furthermore, I recognized the white blonde hair that matched the man sitting next to me.

"You're not really the prince's right-hand-man, are you?" I said slyly. Sure enough, his cheeks turned pinkish, and he looked away guiltily. "Are you the prince?" I asked. He didn't answer. I prodded him. "Come on, princes don't lie!"

"Okay, okay," he said quietly, looking around to make sure no one was listening. "I'm the prince, but I don't want everybody hanging over me."

"Like my stepsister?" He smiled.

"Yeah." We sat in silence for a moment, but my excitement got the better of me. I had so many questions!

"So, what's the story behind this whole ball-to-find-your-future-wife thing?"

He sighed. "My mother wants me to get married as soon as possible, and she kept trying to find someone for me, but she finally agreed to give me a chance at finding someone myself with _this_. If I don't find a wife, I have to marry your stepsister Pansy!"

"Oh, no!" I laughed at the horrorstruck look on his face. "We can't let that happen! Anyone you're interested in so far?"

"You mean besides you?" he said, his tone light. I laughed again, flattered.

"Well, if no one else works out, you should marry me." He looked a little surprised.

"You're very straightforward, aren't you?" I shrugged.

"Well, I mean, I'm better than _Pansy,_ right? Besides, you're . . . cool." I looked away shyly. I'm pretty sure people didn't fall in love this fast, but I was also sure that I was very into this guy, and I wasn't one to beat around the bush. If you like me, and I like you, there's no sense in waiting around for the other one to make a move, right? You just got to go for it!

We were silent for a little while, before I was whisked away by Harry, Ron, and his little sister, Ginny. As the end of the night neared, however, the prince found me again, whispering into my ear from behind.

"I think I'll just have to take you up on that offer."

**The end! Maybe . . . sorry the chapters were short, it was just a little drabble of mine. Should I do a last epilogue-ish chapter or leave it at that? Also, I feel like I rushed them, but I had to keep things moving. After all, I didn't really want to do a 20-chapter fic for my first story. **


	4. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

I stood in the attic that had been my room for so long, smirking out the window as I watched two soldiers struggle with a painting of my father, attempting to load it into a small carriage. Another soldier asked me a question, and I turned around.

"No, leave that dress. Just the dolls. And be careful with them, my mother played with them when she was young." I didn't take much, just the few things I kept of my parents'. My smile widened when Prince Draco stumbled in.

"Are you ready? You don't need much; we will provide everything you want." He smiled and put his arm around my waist, guiding me out of the room.

"No, I think I have everything." Just then, I spied my stepmother and stepsisters talking to a guard or something. Stepmother had been arguing all day, claiming everything I was taking belonged to _her, _and I had no right to take it. The poor guard, whom I knew to be Neville Longbottom, was trying to stand up to her.

"Excuse me," I interjected. "You are addressing a royal guard, and you will do as you're told." I scolded. She balked indignantly. "Now, you'll find that I've only taken what was given to me by my father before he died. You can keep the rest - which, by the way, isn't much to be arguing about." Draco chuckled behind me and I let him pull me down the stairs and into the carriage.

"You're going to make a fabulous ruler; you've got the ordering thing down!" he complimented. I giggled.

"I just can't wait for the part where I never have to come back here again."


End file.
